JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – Carson-Newman Men's and Women's tennis get ready to kick off the 2019 season under new head coach Jim Frederick.
"I'm excited about it," Frederick said. "We have a lot of goals that we've got to accomplish, and winning matches is really a result of our goals. Which are work hard in practice, have a competitive mindset, and that will translate into winning matches."
The teams traveled to a few new tournaments over the fall season including Wingate, Belmont Abbey and the ITA Tournament. The Eagles fared well at those outings and improved on their playing, but coach Frederick emphasized that the key to winning matches is more mental rather than physical, which will be their focus going into the upcoming season.
"I think the biggest challenge is where we are mentally when the match gets close," Frederick said. "We have other things we need to work on, but they all physically got better (over the fall)."
Both teams kick off the season with a bang facing Division 1 opponents in Austin Peay and University of Tennessee Chattanooga with the men additionally facing the Citadel. Lee, Tennessee Wesleyan, North Georgia, and Sewanee are also on the list before the Eagles go up against conference competition beginning on March 9thagainst Newberry at home.
"Our conference is a good conference," Frederick said of the schedule. "Playing a good schedule gets us ready for conference and it's just great competition. I want players that are going to want to play the kind of schedule that we're going to have."
In the 2018 season, the men finished 1-9 in conference competition while the women finished 4-6. Coach Frederick's main goal his first year as head coach is for the team to form good habits through being consistent mentally and physically.
"That's my main goal," Frederick said. "That will translate to winning matches. It's the method that we have to get in the habit of to get better."
The Eagles kick off their season the beginning of February with the women playing Austin Peay on the first and men playing Citadel on the third.
For more information, results, and all things Eagle sports, check back on cneagles.com.
Men's schedule: https://www.cneagles.com/sports/m-tennis/2018-19/schedule
Women's schedule: https://www.cneagles.com/sports/w-tennis/2018-19/schedule
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